Official Black Horse 2350mm Gilmore Red Lion

[RCBobP]

Anyone have paint colors to match the cowl in case we want to do some touchups?

[RCBobP]

Here is a photo. The self-adhesive is working pretty well. I'd have to really pry off the weights to remove them. I'm thinking of leaving them alone and just monitoring to see if/when they start to delaminate. Nobody will see the weights unless they're doing a full inspection, and unless I enter a static scale competition, if someone is looking that close and criticizing, they might just get a kick in the arse!

Flew again yesterday, this time with the stock wheels reinstalled. No issues on touch down, but on grass I'm going to have to learn to goose the throttle a bit to get prop wash across the elevator to keep it down on the ground until the plane slows. Otherwise, she might (and has) nose over.

[djmoose]

Great stuff everyone!!

Remember, if you need 3oz in the tail...that means you probably need to loose 5-6 oz in the nose. (the weight in the tail acts a a lever from the CG)

Post a pick where you have the 3oz and maybe we can offer some attachment ideas.

[406PIlot]

Sorry for the confusion! Total accident.

[RCBobP]

DaleD thanks for straightening that out. I was getting confused myself!

[406PIlot]

DaleD you are totally right.... I was thinking he was tail heavy.... Oops.... ignore that previous suggestion.

Good catch. I should of read a little more closely.

[DaleD]

I suppose I could do something like that. Photo might help. The thing is that with the 3oz lead, it's balanced perfectly.

Please see below battery tray installed above the location of the elevator and rudder servos.

Still a work in progress, I will hopefully be finalising the wiring to receiver and balancing for maiden in the coming weeks.

DaleD

[DaleD]

You could take the weight off and use a heavier true turn spinner. Since it's only 3oz one of those true turn spinners should take care of ya just perfectly.

I can take my spinner off and weight it so you know exactly how much weight it would add

Not so sure about this suggestion. Isn’t he dealing with 3oz added to the tail? Replacing with a heavier spinner will result in more weight aft of the CG to balance. What am I missing?

DaleD

[406PIlot]

I suppose I could do something like that. Photo might help. The thing is that with the 3oz lead, it's balanced perfectly.

You could take the weight off and use a heavier true turn spinner. Since it's only 3oz one of those true turn spinners should take care of ya just perfectly.

I can take my spinner off and weight it so you know exactly how much weight it would add

[RCBobP]

I suppose I could do something like that. Photo might help. The thing is that with the 3oz lead, it's balanced perfectly.

[DaleD]

Now that I have the plane flying, it's time to think about some improvements to the project. I mentioned earlier that I added 3 oz to the rear of the fuse. i used a strip of 12 1/4 oz lead weights by peeling off the self adhesive backing and sticking it right to the covering on the underside of the fuse. Not really the proper method, I get it. At some point the adhesive may lose its grip. When I got the plane back on the work table, I tried to peel off the weights. For now, the adhesive is sticking pretty well. So now I'm thinking about the best way to lock them in place. I'm leaning towards drilling a hole at either end of the weights and maybe one in the middle, through the fuse sheeting and then inserting a dowel coated with epoxy. That would then bind the weight to the wood itself, in a more permanent way than just relying on the adhesive backing to the covering, even if it's only the thickness of the wood sheeting.

The other method I thought about was to go ahead and pry off the weights, score the covering enough to expose the sheeting enough to then epoxy the weights back on so they are glued directly to the fuse. Epoxy should hold better than the adhesive backing.

Any thoughts out there? Thanks.

Bob

Any option to move the batteries further aft of the CG to achieve balance and remove the 3oz lead? I built a battery tray for my Gilmore for this very purpose. I am not close to the model right now, but I believe the tray is located behind the rear of the canopy.

DaleD

[RCBobP]

Now that I have the plane flying, it's time to think about some improvements to the project. I mentioned earlier that I added 3 oz to the rear of the fuse. i used a strip of 12 1/4 oz lead weights by peeling off the self adhesive backing and sticking it right to the covering on the underside of the fuse. Not really the proper method, I get it. At some point the adhesive may lose its grip. When I got the plane back on the work table, I tried to peel off the weights. For now, the adhesive is sticking pretty well. So now I'm thinking about the best way to lock them in place. I'm leaning towards drilling a hole at either end of the weights and maybe one in the middle, through the fuse sheeting and then inserting a dowel coated with epoxy. That would then bind the weight to the wood itself, in a more permanent way than just relying on the adhesive backing to the covering, even if it's only the thickness of the wood sheeting.

The other method I thought about was to go ahead and pry off the weights, score the covering enough to expose the sheeting enough to then epoxy the weights back on so they are glued directly to the fuse. Epoxy should hold better than the adhesive backing.

Any thoughts out there? Thanks.

Bob

[406PIlot]

Just absolutely fantastic RCBobP !!!! I love the Gilmore with the saito radial!!! It's defiantly the pride and joy of my hangar!! I'm really liking your Pilot!!! I need to get rid of the stock pilot and get something cool in there like you did.

Cheers again to getting your bird in the air !

[RCBobP]

Flight today went even better. Rolls, loops, fun....and a perfect roll out on landing.

[RCBobP]

No damage except pride. I'll get over that!

I noticed this morning the fill valve on one of the wheels is gone. Must have popped out on landing. Will definitely go back to the stock wheels!

[Twowingtj]

RCBobP Congrats!

Hopefully, you were damage free after the flip. I had no problem until I went with inflatable tires. At recommended inflation, they are soft enough to bulge and possibly grab the inside of a wheel pant. If you inflate more, they get larger in diameter, also causing possible clearance issues.

[406PIlot]

Fantastic!!! Glad to hear all went fairly well. I had the sr problem adjusting my flying style to this type of plane. Once you get used.to it's characteristics you'll be even more in love !!


Cheers again!!!

[djmoose]

Awesome job! Congrats!

[RCBobP]

She flies!! Finally got everything together, ran out of excuses, got control of my shaky knees, fired up the Saito engine and off she went.

Before I maidened I put the plane on an EZ Balancer and at the 114 mm mark was too nose heavy for my liking. As luck would have it, I had a strip of twelve 1/4 oz lead weights (3 oz.). I laid it on the tail of the fuse, right in front of the tail wheel and it balanced perfectly. I had to make some adjustments with the wheel pants, as the wheels were rubbing up against the pants. After that, I fueled up the tank and started the engine. Needed to do a mechanical adjustment to the throttle servo arm. Like I said, at that point I ran out of excuses.

Take of was eazy breezy. Got up to altitude. As many have indicated, at low rates it has a sluggish roll rate. I'm not used to this kind of scale flyer. I fly mostly aerobatic and pattern planes. Still, I babied it all the way. Didn't try any loops, but will do so once I get used to flying it in circles. As you can imagine, the first landing I was a bit nervous. Got it on the ground, but it nosed over and flipped. Probably should land with high rates on the elevator just to get maximum deflection to keep the tail on the ground.

It's fun to have something that not everyone else has, so it certainly draws attention from other pilots. Everyone is very impressed with the quality of the model. Stay tuned for more updates. Thanks to all who posted their tips on this forum.

Bob

Bob

[RCBobP]

For anyone that used inflatable DuBro wheels (or the like), what PSI is recommended?